Healing Traumatic Stress & Loss With Self-Care
Whether you're struggling to manage challenging life events, a trauma or accident, loss and grief or any kind of transition that causes you distress or destabilization, it's helpful to understand that your feelings, emotions and behaviors are a normal reaction to extreme and/or disturbing events. As a NYC psychotherapist who uses EMDR therapy, supportive work and a focus on helping clients develop healthier coping skills, I'm happy to share tips to support you as you move through difficult times, and in time, find healing and recovery.
What helps?
Allow yourself to acknowledge and accept that you're experiencing something difficult and that your reactions are normal, but that you can manage. Remind yourself that you've handled difficult situations in the past. What healthy skills did you call upon previously to help you cope during stressful times? Lean on those strengths.
Get better at asking for help. This is hard for many, but people can be surprisingly kind when it comes to supporting others. This also requires that you allow yourself to receive help and manage any feelings of shame related to needing help. You can’t manage everything, especially when stressed.
Take exquisite care of yourself, when you can. Show self-compassion and practice self-care. Giving yourself permission for a "time out" can help you feel stronger and more resilient when you need to get back to the problem at hand. If you can, take some time to read, draw or engage any other hobbies that can help you briefly escape (in a healthy way) from the realities of your experience. When you’re experiencing difficult circumstances, it’s actually the time to double down on taking good care of yourself.
It's tempting to self-soothe with unhelpful behaviors, but this is a good time to take efforts to engage in healthy behaviors. This will help you better cope with stress, fatigue and emotional dysregulation. Sleep, rest or nap when you can. Create healthy, well-balanced meals and avoid substances such as drugs and alcohol that can interfere with sleep, reduce resilience and even increase anxiety and depression. If you suffer from insomnia, relaxation techniques can ease sleep problems.
Allow yourself to grieve any losses that you have experienced. Processing and mourning loss can evoke strong emotions, and healing from grief is not a linear process. With time, the intensity will decrease.
When you are ready, find someone to talk to. It can be a community, such as a church or synagogue, a trusted friend, a family member, others in a similar situation, support groups or a counselor or therapist. Groups can be incredibly healing as individuals communicate about shared experiences and provide support and helpful feedback.
It's temping when traumatized or stressed to move into action mode, but it's really important to avoid making major life decisions when your going through times that challenge mind, body and spirit.
There are many kinds of therapists and counselors that offer different kinds of help for individuals struggling with anxiety, depression, PTSD, trauma, loss and transitions. EMDR therapy, Somatic Experiencing (SE), Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), mindfulness, meditation, art therapy and acupuncture/bodywork are just a few examples of expressive and somatic therapies that can help you move forward and release trauma. Trauma therapists understand the neurobiological effects of trauma on the body and nervous system and can provide clinically effective interventions for healing and releasing. As a mind-body therapist with a focus on well-being, my favorite modality is EMDR therapy. It is a powerful, evidence-based intervention that helps clients see disturbing material in a new and less distressing way. It leads to deep psychological healing, with less talking, greater emotional regulation and safety and heals the nervous system. It’s important to address your trauma symptoms so that you can move forward with your life without the suffering that PTSD creates. Reach out for help or if you have questions about EMDR therapy and deeper, transformative healing.
About Holistic Psychotherapy & Wellness Manhattan
Kimberly Seelbrede, LCSW is a New York State licensed Psychotherapist, EMDR Practitioner and Couple Therapist with a private practice in New York City, Montana and virtually. As a wellness psychotherapist and holistic consultant, she has receive advanced, extensive training in Trauma Therapy, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Somatic Experiencing (SE), and Nutrition & Integrative Medicine For Mental Health. She is passionate about honoring the exquisite interplay of the mind-body connection. Kimberly Seelbrede specializes in anxiety & mood disorders, trauma and women’s mental health. She brings over 20 years of counseling, coaching, and healing experience to her holistic practice and transformational work.
In addition to online therapy for anxiety, depression, trauma and relationship struggles, Holistic Psychotherapy & Wellness offers a wide variety of online services to fit the needs of busy professionals. New Yorkers often lead fast-paced and complex lives, which makes work-life balance and managing career, family and social obligations a challenge. Psychotherapy and wellness practices provides the support to help clients cultivate resources, resilience and enhanced emotional health, as well as uncover conflicts and obstacles that may interfere with having the life they desire.